Good evening, friends :-)
The beginning of Round of Words in 80 days, second round, comes at an interesting time. Makes me happy I gave a lot of thought to my goals this round.
ROW 80 has a good way of showing you the things you don't know you need to know...
- how to reflexively cringe at 'juvenile'-level dialog (esp. your own)
- how to swallow envy and turn that energy to word counts
- how to choose when to get obsessive and detail-driven
- how to turn off the computer because nothing you are doing makes the hideousbeast W.I.P. any prettier
- and how the writing goes a little easier the next day anyway.
At worst, I know I can do 30 minutes/day of Something related to the short novella/long story, or poetry. So, what does this mean for my progress these three days?
#1 - Monday - 45 minutes of poetry research, and minor revisions to one poem
#2 - Tuesday. Grr. Glared at story for 10 minutes, deleted some crap. Worked out thoughts on paper for the weak areas that need bolstering, let alone ACTUAL TYPING. Spent 20 minutes on this and threw in the towel in disgust. Spent five minutes wishing it was late at night and I could have a glass of wine with my husband. Ended up achieving this impromptu goal MUCH later that night, but hey, mission accomplished.
#3 -Wednesday. Back on poetry revisions, due somewhat in part to the open mic night coming up this month that I'll likely participate in. I submitted Winter, Act 1, for the Dakota County National Poetry Month contest, judged by Heid E. Erdrich. Winners will be announced, she will do a few readings, and it clearly says "Open Mic". Since I spend an inordinate amount of my life either acting, or merely looking, JUST like an ass, I'll try to come prepared for bucking this painful personal trend - for at least this one night.
And that, my digital crew, is that. Goals met to the letter, and certainly to the spirit. Speaking of spirits, I'm tipping the wine yet again - how cool is this? I'm going to meet Heid E. Erdich! By the way, she is a MN poet of mixed German/French/Ojibwe ancestry, published four poetry books, won a 2009 MN Book Award, lectures across the country, and from what I've read, seems an all-around massively cool person who writes Awesome poetry. She combines myth and magic with the day-to-day.
She does it excruciatingly well. Look her up here: http://www.nativewiki.org/Heid_Erdrich
And with that, friends, goodnight. See below links to find other authors doing other various, sundry, and wonderful things. They are good places to stop in :-)
(later post-script and disclaimer. I can't find the blessed Linky code to show the blog-hop roll. If I can find the elusive little so-and-so, I will post it STAT. sorry, friends!)
(update. I am a total weenie. This round isn't a blog hop, so there IS no linky to post. On the other hand, there are some terrific blogs with some of these same writers listed below to the right, if you are itching for someone new to read, check a few links - you might find a new favorite! Many of them have links to their books and stories. Or, click on the ROW 80 badge and follow instructions to see who's in the challenge :-) Have fun!)
The beginning of Round of Words in 80 days, second round, comes at an interesting time. Makes me happy I gave a lot of thought to my goals this round.
ROW 80 has a good way of showing you the things you don't know you need to know...
- how to reflexively cringe at 'juvenile'-level dialog (esp. your own)
- how to swallow envy and turn that energy to word counts
- how to choose when to get obsessive and detail-driven
- how to turn off the computer because nothing you are doing makes the hideous
- and how the writing goes a little easier the next day anyway.
At worst, I know I can do 30 minutes/day of Something related to the short novella/long story, or poetry. So, what does this mean for my progress these three days?
#1 - Monday - 45 minutes of poetry research, and minor revisions to one poem
#2 - Tuesday. Grr. Glared at story for 10 minutes, deleted some crap. Worked out thoughts on paper for the weak areas that need bolstering, let alone ACTUAL TYPING. Spent 20 minutes on this and threw in the towel in disgust. Spent five minutes wishing it was late at night and I could have a glass of wine with my husband. Ended up achieving this impromptu goal MUCH later that night, but hey, mission accomplished.
#3 -Wednesday. Back on poetry revisions, due somewhat in part to the open mic night coming up this month that I'll likely participate in. I submitted Winter, Act 1, for the Dakota County National Poetry Month contest, judged by Heid E. Erdrich. Winners will be announced, she will do a few readings, and it clearly says "Open Mic". Since I spend an inordinate amount of my life either acting, or merely looking, JUST like an ass, I'll try to come prepared for bucking this painful personal trend - for at least this one night.
And that, my digital crew, is that. Goals met to the letter, and certainly to the spirit. Speaking of spirits, I'm tipping the wine yet again - how cool is this? I'm going to meet Heid E. Erdich! By the way, she is a MN poet of mixed German/French/Ojibwe ancestry, published four poetry books, won a 2009 MN Book Award, lectures across the country, and from what I've read, seems an all-around massively cool person who writes Awesome poetry. She combines myth and magic with the day-to-day.
She does it excruciatingly well. Look her up here: http://www.nativewiki.org/Heid_Erdrich
And with that, friends, goodnight. See below links to find other authors doing other various, sundry, and wonderful things. They are good places to stop in :-)
(later post-script and disclaimer. I can't find the blessed Linky code to show the blog-hop roll. If I can find the elusive little so-and-so, I will post it STAT. sorry, friends!)
(update. I am a total weenie. This round isn't a blog hop, so there IS no linky to post. On the other hand, there are some terrific blogs with some of these same writers listed below to the right, if you are itching for someone new to read, check a few links - you might find a new favorite! Many of them have links to their books and stories. Or, click on the ROW 80 badge and follow instructions to see who's in the challenge :-) Have fun!)
Oh, good luck with that. The mere mention of open mic makes me break out into a cold sweat. I'm glad you're the brave one! :)
ReplyDeleteI need more impromptu goals like that, it might actually make me get my arse in gear this month!
...wellll, i guess we'll find out if I'm brave or not After the fact (er, if I don't even place, I'm thinking I'll be pretending laryngitis! ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the by, I'm thinking your arse is in gears I didn't even know existed! ;-) Thanks for coming by!
Yeah, I'm doing equal parts glaring and laughing out loud as I edit my WIP. I consider that great, as it means I'm not falling asleep. lol Good luck!
ReplyDeleteright back atcha in the luck department. I'm actually just launching round 2 of glaring....Staying awake definitely improves the impact of the glaring, so good on ya! ;-)
ReplyDelete